Mainline denominations are in decline. Martin Thielen writes that if churches have 'open hearts, open minds and open doors,' many unchurched people will be reached.

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Martin Thielen

Mainline denominations have been in decline for 40 years, both numerically and in cultural influence. Although it took longer to happen, all other denominations in America are now also in decline.

However, mainline and moderate churches have a unique window of opportunity to become far more vital in America. To explain this, let me give you a crash course in American Christianity over the past 60 years.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, religious observance was at an all-time high in modern America. Then we hit the turbulent 1960s and early 1970s. This was the era of "drugs, sex and rock 'n' roll," ...